First American edition. - New York : Riverhead Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA), 2014.

Description

Book — xxiv, 245 pages ; 24 cm

Summary

The economy : a user's manual

The babysitting recession

Money, money, money

Just enough inflation

Stimulus

The prison camp recession

Output gaps

The invention of unemployment

Boss-onomics

The sirens of macroeconomics

The cult of GNP

Happynomics

Can growth continue forever?

Inequality

The future of macroeconomics.

"A provocative and lively exploration of the increasingly important world of macroeconomics, by the author of the bestselling The Undercover Economist. Thanks to the worldwide financial upheaval, economics is no longer a topic we can ignore. From politicians to hedge-fund managers to middle-class IRA holders, everyone must pay attention to how and why the global economy works the way it does. Enter Financial Times columnist and bestselling author Tim Harford. In this new book that demystifies macroeconomics, Harford strips away the spin, the hype, and the jargon to reveal the truth about how the world's economy actually works. With the wit of a raconteur and the clear grasp of an expert, Harford explains what's really happening beyond today's headlines, why all of us should care, and what we can do about it to understand it better. "-- Provided by publisher.
"A lively and engaging exploration of macroeconomics that explains what's really happening to the world economy and what we can do about it - as consumers, voters, workers and human beings"-- Provided by publisher.

Angela Merkel was already unique when she became German chancellor: the first female leader of Europe's biggest economy, the first from former communist East Germany and the first born after World War II. Since 2010, the debt crisis that spread from Greece to the euro region and the world economy has propelled her to center-stage, making Merkel the dominant politician in the struggle to preserve Europe's economic model and its single currency. Yet the Protestant pastor's daughter is often viewed as enigmatic and hard-to-predict, a misreading that took hold as she resisted global pressure for grand gestures to counter the crisis. Having turned the fall of the Berlin Wall to her advantage, Merkel is trying to get history on her side again after reaching the fundamental decision to save the euro, the crowning achievement of post-war European unity. Merkel has brought Europe to a crossroads. Germany's economic might gives her unprecedented power to set the direction for the European Union's 500 million people. What's at stake is whether she will persuade them to follow the German lead. Angela Merkel: A Chancellorship Forged in Crisis is the definitive new biography of the world's most powerful woman. Delving into Merkel's past, the authors explain the motives behind her drive to remake Europe for the age of globalization, her economic role models and the experiences under communism that color her decisions. For the first time in English, Merkel is fully placed in her European context. Through exclusive interviews with leading policy makers and Merkel confidants, the book reveals the behind-the-scenes drama of the crisis that came to dominate her chancellorship, her prickly relationship with the U.S. and admiration for Eastern Europe. Written by two long-standing Merkel watchers, the book documents how her decisions and vision -- both works in progress -- are shaping a pivotal moment in European history. (source: Nielsen Book Data) 9781118641101 20160612

Introduction - solving the German problem-- when did the Cold War end?-- revisiting the German question-- the fall of Ostpolitik and the Berlin Wall-- the goal becomes unification-- the process becomes the two plus four-- the design for a new Germany-- friendly persuasion-- the final offer-- Germany regains its sovereignty-- epilogue - Germany unified and Europe transformed.

(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Officials mingled in the lobby of the Oktyabrskaia Hotel - shaking hands, sipping champagne, signing their names - and Germany was united. In this undramatic fashion, the international community closed the book on the drama of divided Germany. But nothing so momentous could be quite so quiet and uncomplicated, as this volume makes strikingly clear. This book goes behind the scenes through access to still not opened archives in many countries. "Germany Unified and Europe Transformed" discloses the moves and manoevres that ended the Cold War division of Europe. Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, who served in the White House during these years, have combed a vast number of documents and other sources in German and Russian as well as English. They also interviewed the major actors in the drama - George Bush, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Eduard Shevardnadze, James Baker, Anatoly Chernyayev, Brent Scowcroft, Horst Teltschik, and many others. Their firsthand accounts merge to create a complete, detailed and powerful immediate picture of what happened. The book takes us into Gorbachev's world, illuminating why the Soviet leader set such cataclysmic forces in motion in the late 1980s and how these forces outstripped his plans. We follow the tense debates between Soviet and East German officials over whether to crush the first wave of German protesters - and learn that the opening of the Berlin Wall was in fact one of the greatest bureaucratic blunders in human history. The narrative then reveals the battle for the future of East Germany as it took shape between West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the reform Communist leader, Hans Modrow - East Germany's "little Gorbachev". Zelikow and Rice show how Kohl and George Bush held off the reactions of governments throughout Europe so that Kohl could awaken East Germans to the possibility of reunification on his terms. Then the battle over the future of the NATO alliance began in earnest. The drama that would change the face of Europe took place largely backstage, and this book lets us in on the strategies and negotiations, the nerve-racking risks, last-minute decisions and deep deliberations that brought it off. (source: Nielsen Book Data) 9780674353244 20181210
The ending of the Cold War divisions of Europe took place largely backstage, this book aims to let the reader in on some of the strategies and negotiations, last-minute decision making, and deliberations that made it possible. Using still-classified documents from the American archive, documents from the East German and Russian archives, and interviews with European leaders, this book aims to give a detailed picture of statecraft from Eastern and Western points of view. (source: Nielsen Book Data) 9780674353251 20181210